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Today was Cinco de Mayo presentations/fiesta day. We have 72 minute classes so it works out perfectly. We did not have school on Friday so that was not an option, and you never have a fiesta without a school day prior to remind them to bring their goodies.

I know that some teachers do not teach Cinco de Mayo because it is not celebrated largely in Mexico, but I love to point out the historical aspects including how it changed the course of our own Civil War in the United States. There are also many family friendly Cinco de Mayo activities in our area, so I feel it is fitting. I also explain that many Hispanic people feel that it helps them celebrate their heritage since they are so far away from “home”.

The students were able to make any kind of project they wanted. I had a combination of Power Points, Prezis, posters and skits.

We were in the computer lab last Thursday and yesterday. I put out 15 index cards with topics that included the French Invasion, the Battle of Puebla, Fiesta music & food and several others. In pairs, they picked one and got to work. Their tasks were to do research and begin create their presentations. I also had two other tasks for them.

I created two Google documents. I made them public pages so they could edit them.

The first document had a table to share the links where they found their information. Now I have a great collection….

The second document included a table where they had to share two facts they had learned. From this document I made a worksheet. The worksheet had the name of each of the presenters and their two facts. I picked a word or two from each fact and changed it to a blank for the students to fill in while they watched the presentations. This encouraged them to be actively engaged.

After the presentations we ate and they filled out an exit slip that asked what the most interesting fact was that they learned, something they did not understand, and 3 True or False questions.